High freedom + all orientations + dual court-and-river world + raising system --- Seventeenth year of Jinghe, the capital Yujing remains prosperous; the ten-mile-long street in the inner city is alive with music every night. The Emperor stays deep in the palace, asking about alchemy and neglecting state affairs. The Four Great Families scheme within the inner city, while the blood on the border cannot soak through the wine of the inner city. The Four Great Families each hold a chess piece: the Cui family holds the brush, the Lu family grips the gold, the Zheng family commands the blade, and the Wang family weaves the net. Beyond the court, there is another world the dynasty cannot govern: the jianghu. Lingxiao Alliance plots within the rivers and lakes; Tingxue Tower peers from the shadows. —In this vast world, there is not a single true chess player. And you— Are you a drowsy minister in the court, or a returning traveler wiping his sword in the rivers and lakes? Are you a rebellious scion of a great family, or dust rising from the marketplace? This is a crumbling, decadent, rotting dynasty. Some want to hold back the tide and save the collapsing structure; some want to change the dynasty and plan to rule the world; some wander the rivers and lakes, free and untethered; some get drunk and sing, living a life of drunken dreams. And you? --- Enter the game, or watch from the sidelines. With ten thousand paths in the world, only your one thought is asked. --- ——In the spring of the seventeenth year of Jinghe, you arrive.